Recently, I visited WonderCon on the Friday of March 29th! It was the convention’s first day so everyone was excited with a lot to look forward to! By everyone, I am referring to my fellow writers Brandi and Kasper who I joined on this outing and who went this year as the press for TGON! Make sure to read their articles about the convention! I always enjoy the Anaheim area, so it went very well for my second time at WonderCon!
As always we planned for our panels, parking, driving, and all the essentials, but this year I decided to do something different for a convention.
Lately, I have been getting into learning how to be a Dungeon Master for Dungeons and Dragons. It feels rewarding to gain more knowledge about the game from friends and experts so we can all have a fun experience in a fantasy world while building the stories of our characters or in other cases doing a not-so-simple heist.
Thus, I decided to turn my attention to all things DND-themed that I could from this Friday at WonderCon and hopefully provide some sort of culmination of what an avid fan of the game and other TTRPGs can find at this convention. And I found plenty!
I will be separating the events of my day into sections as some activities can only be found on this specific day while others can be at any time. Here we go!
The Panel
On Friday, two DND panels caught my interest: How to Level Up Your Dungeons & Dragons Game and Puppet-Filled D&D One-Shot. I was only able to attend the first as the latter took place later around 9 p.m. and my party and I all wanted to get home around 8 p.m.
The panel was led with introductions by moderator Ross Thompson to the following people: Christoff Visscher, Jason Charles Miller, Kailey Bray, and Saige Ryan. The panelists all had a good rapport with each other as some of them have played together in a DND campaign before and are familiar with each other’s roles in the arts and entertainment industry.
One of the very first questions that Ross asked was what the most important part of a DND game is for them. The answers the panelists gave were immersion, scent, and music. To give the extra details, Kailey explained immersion as the different formats that you can now enjoy a DND game in whether it be online through software or in person with dice and paper. Christoff has his own candle business with scents tailor-made to fit the vibe of a scene, so scents were bound to be his first choice. Jason is a musician, so he loves music and discussed how easily accessible it is now to find music catered to a setting for your game online.
Going further into a discussion about immersion, there are several creative ways to keep your players grounded when you cannot play in person together. Kailey says she sends little character packages to her players in the mail filled with special props to connect the players through a sensory experience.
Not only that, but the panelists agreed to begin proper immersion, it is best to have some rituals before starting the session for your campaign to properly get into the headspace. Any Dungeon Master or player knows the amount of prep work that goes into any campaign. Scott adds that it is always good to have a break to help with the immersion. Saige also added the idea of having a themed gathering before the game starts to help everyone prepare. Making breakfast together before having the session was one of the examples given.
We can’t forget that DND is a social game so catering to the social aspect and looking after everyone’s wellbeing will help ensure the steps for an excellent session.
Christoff shared some advice that he was given himself on how to break the ice for roleplaying in your game. It can be difficult sometimes to get the players actively involved especially if there is some level of awkwardness, so he suggested having a cue character. For example, the cue character can be having a barkeep approach the characters at their usual tavern to see how they’re feeling. Or it can be a random NPC introducing themselves and getting to know one of the player characters.
Other kinds of indicators can help keep your mind on track for the game and set events in motion. Kailey said that having a key phrase both as a player and a DM can help to program your head to know where the session starts and when it’s time to move on to something. It can also help keep the focus of the group if things get off track. She described it as a type of mantra.
Saige shared that she always writes her opening monologue and scene setting. She said that even if they’ve been in the same place, redescribe the room to recapture the feeling of where they left off.
And finally, Ross pivots the panelists to what helps them as players in a DND campaign. Christoff said he always finds that drawing helps him focus especially if it’s of the scene that is occurring in the game. Jason on the other hand takes notes.
The panelists continued into a discussion of their streams when suddenly the panel was cut early due to the fire alarm going off. I was a bit sad to see it end early and there was no real explanation behind the alarms, but all in all, it was a great panel where I learned a lot! The tweet below from Ross says just as much.
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsGreat way to kickoff WonderCon! The "How to Level Up your Dungeons & Dragons Game" panel was a blast. Full room of folk who are all playing RPGs and own lots of dice. Thank you so much to the fantastic panelists for joining! Such a great discussion. pic.twitter.com/76JJOu7pRZ
— Ross Thompson (@AlmostKirk) March 29, 2024
The Paint & Take
It can be exhausting wandering the convention halls for hours on end, so it’s nice to find somewhere for a short rest before continuing your adventure.
Over by the games section in Hall C of the Exhibit Hall, the company Monument Hobbies had set up some tables for free paint and take from a select number of minifigures.
From my experience at other conventions, I thought you had to sign up to get a spot to participate in this activity. With WonderCon however, I was delighted to find it is very much a free-for-all and you don’t have to sign up, just simply wait in line til an open spot appears at the tables.
I will be honest that I don’t own many mini-figures, but I have painted a few before, so of course I was happy to participate in this free activity to get a Minifigure that could be used in a future campaign. The one I chose here was the goatman-type creature dual-wielding a pair of axes.
As my party and I received our available seats, we immediately set to painting, coming upon a consensus that we were all artists in some form and decorating the figures would be a cakewalk for us. And after doing so much walking around the convention center, it felt nice to sit down and do a relaxing activity like painting. I could feel myself being rejuvenated in energy again after finishing the figure
My goatman figure pictured above will likely be something I use in my next cryptid-themed campaign, the Goatman being one of the many cryptids out there that are popular among cryptid enthusiasts.
If you ever get a chance to participate in a Paint & Take at a convention, I highly recommend it!
Exploring the Exhibit Hall
One of my favorite parts of any convention is exploring the exhibit Hall and looking at Artist’s Alley. All who work in the hall put a lot of effort into setting up their booths and many also have DND-related items or merch. They aren’t strictly DND-related, but two artists I would like to shout out here for their wonderful fantasy-based art styles are ChaiBee and Karina Gazizova.
If we want to go back to earlier with Christoff’s most important part of a DND game being scents, a shop I would recommend is the company Tea & Absinthe. I love all of their different blends that are inspired by different fandoms and art. They have an option in their shop to buy a sample of all their different blends called “Gimme Everything” which I happily purchased for a lucky $69. The blends that I would highly recommend to serve during a DND game are Starry Night and Persephone’s Blend.
I came across a lovely group of cosplayers dressed as characters from Baldur’s Gate. I own the game myself and love how it plays with the immersion of a DND game and all of the NPCs you interact with are lovely making the cosplays even better. I do admit that Astarion is my favorite among the bunch alongside Shadowheart who stole my heart in the group.
There are so many wonderful TTRPG’s out there these days I was so happy to see them all represented or even available to play at the games section of the Exhibit Hall.
And So Our Adventure Concludes…
And so as you can see, there is plenty for the avid DND fan to get their kicks, especially at WonderCon whether it be panels, merch, or events. Did you see any particular Dungeons and Dragons artists I may have missed? Let us know in the comment section below!
